Future of Vehicle Navigation

Surely, most of us whom have taken road trips in the past decade have come to rely on portable GPS devices. These devices have come a long way, but are still limited by their physical materials. Personally, it took some time to get accustomed to having a part of my windshield real estate blocked out for the device.

Displaying driving related information to the driver without blocking their field of vision or taking their eyes of the road is the target goal for driver assistance systems.

Heads up Display for efficient navigation/ethics analysis from Terminator

From the Terminator’s “ethics” system, the motorcycle helmets in Tron or Tony Stark’s Iron Man suite we have seen heads up displays in popular movies for the past few decades. The HUDs being designed today resemble what gamers have seen in popular titles over the years, specifically racing games. Outside of the movie and game industry, most consumers do not get the chance to interact directly with heads up displays. That’s assuming you are not driving an F-22 Raptor or go by the name of Bond….James Bond. Heads up Display technology is about to hit consumers en masse.

Full Windshield display from Knight Rider reboot. Only a self driving car could be optimal with this much clutter. Multi tasking at its best

If you are not buying a BMW, Audi or an F-22 Raptor in the near future then there are other much more cost effective options to bring a projected heads up display into your current vehicle. Navdy is a portable HUD system that projects driving directions, traffic data, as well as social interactions directly in front of the driver to ensure one’s attention is where it should be at all times. The system allows for voice activation/navigation, swiping commands as well as integration with your mobile device.

Motorcylists can use a product by the name of Nuviz, which clips onto your current helmet. This device projects information on an LCoS screen located at the corner of their field of vision. It displays traffic information, driving directions, weather information and other data that directly impacts a motorcyclist’s safety.

I am curious to see how much further this technology will progress. Do you think a form of navigational virtual reality will become commonplace within our vehicles? Or will we have driverless cars by that time?

What do you think about this approach to displaying information in a driving situation? How do you feel about sitting in a car that drives itself? Leave your comments below!